How It Happened! Pizza: The Cool Stories and Facts Behind Every Slice

by Paige Towler, WonderLab Group

Find out how pizza became the world’s favorite comfort food in this nonfiction book, part of the HOW IT HAPPENED! Series. 

Did you know that every hour, more than one million slices of pizza are eaten in the United States? But this cheesy flatbread had a long journey before becoming a global comfort food. This fact-filled book delivers the deep dish on pizza culture, history, and science. Whether you like thin crust or Sicilian-style, this book is one that pizza lovers won’t want to miss!  

Genres: Nonfiction, Food, Childrens

192 pages, Hardcover

First published November 7, 2023

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe because I've read Tasty and Pizza by Pizzoli, I'm very familiar with the history of pizza, but this is still a great introduction to one of kids' favorite foods. I learned that Pizza Hut is the oldest chain, follow by Little Caesar's, then Dominos. I didn't know frozen pizzas have been around so long. This series doesn't shy away from the uglier parts of history and talks about the discrimination that Italian immigrants faced coming to the U.S. Pizza is available for delivery on all 7 continents! There's some science explaining how we got to the pizza we know and love today. It also includes the ever-popular history of the margherita pizza. On page 158, it talks about some of the popular, yet strange to American taste buds, toppings. I wish there were pictures of the mascots and old ads, including the Book It program. Includes a timeline and index at the back.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The bright and colorful design of this book is what is really going to appeal to middle grade readers, though there are also a ton of interesting facts sprinkled throughout. My favorite one was probably the way Dominos underestimated the amount of people willing to get a Dominos tattoo in exchange for free pizza. The only missing element is source notes, which led me to wonder from where all these delightful facts were gathered.

[Chy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very quick read that gives a simple overview of the history of pizza as well as different toppings and kinds of pizza featured around the world.

[Rosalie Cordle · Rating 5 out of 5]

love the learning hope they make more